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Experience the Oticon history

1902

On the 9th of August, 1902, the Danish-born Crown Princess Alexandra wears a hearing aid for her coronation as Queen of England,

The following year, driven by a heartfelt desire to help his hearing-impaired wife, Hans Demant travels from Denmark to England to buy the same type of hearing device.

1904

Hans Demant brings hearing devices to Denmark

Driven by the desire to improve the lives of his wife and all people in need of hearing support, Hans Demant wins a contract with General Acoustic Co. and begins the import and distribution of the first hearing devices to Denmark: the electric Acousticon devices.

1910

Hans' son, William, takes over

Hans Demant's son, William, takes over the company upon his father's death. William travels to the production facilities in the USA to learn about the manufacture and repair of Acousticon hearing devices.

1929

The Great Depression makes an impact

In the wake of World War 1 and of the infamous Wall Street crash of this year, trading restrictions make it difficult to import finished goods. William begins to import incomplete devices with no wires or batteries, and completes production on Danish soil.

1940

William produces hearing aid components in Denmark

During World War 2 (1939-1945), William Demant is unable to import goods from USA, England or France. He decides to produce components for the latest Acousticon devices in Denmark. He then manufactures the first Danish-made licensed hearing device — the Acousticus — a copy of the original Acousticon model.

1946

American-Danish Hearing Corporation is born

Following a disagreement with Dictograph products (formerly General Acousticon Company), William Demant enters into partnership with American hearing aid producer, Charles Lehman. Together they establish the American-Danish Oticon Corporation, headquartered in Copenhagen.

1954

50th birthday celebrations

Oticon celebrates its 50th year of business with all 155 employees invited to an event in Copenhagen. Oticon can proudly call itself the leading provider of hearing aids to the Danish public sector.

1965

Oticon goes global

Oticon expands its global presence with Oticon Corp. opening in the USA. Oticon companies are founded in Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Scotland, Japan, Italy, New Zealand and France. The largest overseas markets are England and Sweden, and later on, China.

1991

Headquarters move to a new location at Strandvejen. Under the motto "Time to think the unthinkable" new and revolutionary ways of working are introduced across the whole company.

With Lars Kolind and Niels Jacobsen leading the way, Oticon enters a new phase of transformation. Niels Jacobsen later takes over to drive Oticon forward to international success.

1996

Doing it digitally

Oticon launches the first fully digital hearing device, DigiFocus. The advanced amplification of sound is programmed to fit the individual's hearing loss. This takes us one step closer to the full wireless connectivity we can offer today.

2004

Celebrating a century of care

Oticon introduces the slogan "People First" and is known across the world not only as the world's second largest manufacturer of hearing devices, but also for its organisational structure, teamwork and view on employees. Oticon celebrates its centenary on June 8th.

2007

Hearing aids redefined

Oticon launches Epoq. Two hearing aids can now continuously communicate with each other to provide a very life-like sound picture. The new solution reveals more about the nature and origin of sounds that other solution available, and it allows for connectivity with e.g. mobile phones, and music players

2010

People first moves into the future

Oticon is stronger than ever. People First remains our promise, reflecting how everything we do always begins with the people we are doing it for.

2014

We hear with our brain

Today, Oticon hearing aids support the way the brain works and make sense of sound.

The basic philosophy of BrainHearing is to support your brain by giving it the conditions it need to create meaning from sound – instead of overloading it by turning up the volume.